Absolution
by Winter Blake
Summary: Alternate ending to Near Misses. Tim wakes up after he pushed himself to far on patrol. He just wants to escape the cave with his dignity intact, and before Dick can tell him what a disappointment he is.


**Author's Note: This story is an alternate ending to the wonderful story Near Misses by dragonprincess1988. To understand what is going on you should read it it first. Here is a link **

**/s/8790137/1/Near-Misses **

**I also want to thank ****dragonprincess1988 for giving me the opportunity to write this and for also being my Beta. You are amazing! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did the New 52 would never have happened. **

**Absolution **

The first thing Tim feels when he wakes up is a searing pain in his arm, and for a moment it is all he can focus on. Slowly, his observational skills kick back in and he realizes that he is not in his apartment. He blinks a couple of times, surprised to find that he had awoken in the cave. He racks his brain for the memory of how he ended up in here, but it doesn't come.

Tim can feel a migraine coming on but he ignores it and focuses instead on remembering the events that transpired before his mysterious awakening in the cave. Okay… he'd been patrolling, obviously, and he remembers taking a blow to the arm. Well, that explained the searing pain Tim felt. His entire arm hurt, but it was his shoulder that hurt the most- he wonders if he had dislocated his shoulder, but then quickly decides it doesn't matter. He goes back to piecing together his memory and is awarded for his efforts. Everything is hazy but he remembers the gist of it. He'd met up with Dick who had wanted to patrol with him surprisingly. Obviously Dick had been looking for a replacement brother since Damian had been with Bruce, and since Jason is crazy, that left Tim.

Tim shakes his head, trying to focus and stop thinking of his precarious relationship with Dick. _Right_… so Dick had accompanied Tim on patrol with him, and to check up on those two gangs. Then things just kept happening and happening preventing Tim from going back to his apartment, take care of his arm, and crash. Finally, the pain had just been too much; and Tim had fallen, then passed out.

Tim wanted to punch himself. Why had the one night Dick actually wanted to be around him (albeit he was most likely Dick's second choice- but Tim was okay with that) was the night Tim had been hurt? Dick must be so ashamed of him.

Dick was no doubt thinking Tim was a stupid useless kid. In that moment, Tim wants nothing more then to burst into flames. Tim did remember Dick showing some brotherly concern before he blacked out- no doubt because Dick felt obligated.

With a sigh, Tim got up from the small bed he had been lying on and started looking around for his clothes, for he was stripped down to nothing but his boxer briefs. He wishes he had a watch to check the time- he couldn't risk going out in his Red Robin suit in broad daylight just to get back to his apartment. He might be stuck in the cave for the rest of the day, if it's too late.

_Damn. _

He knew that he could go up to the manor, but something was stopping him. It was a mixture of seeing Dick and having to face the disappointment, and seeing Damian, who would no doubt mock him for his injury. If Bruce were up there, he might have ventured up, but Bruce was most likely at work. So, Tim starts looking around the cave in search of his missing suit but surprisingly cannot find it anywhere. He looks in all the usual places but it is not there, and then searches everywhere else. There is still a dull ache in his arm, and he knows that the sling around his arm constricting its movement helps, but searching with one arm is annoying. Besides, he can't very well leave the cave in his suit with a sling on. Tim holds back a snort, thinking about fighting villains with his arm in a sling. They'd just laugh themselves to death.

Tim discards the sling, and places it on the bed he had previously been sleeping in. He is now able to search the cave uninhibited by his sling, although moving his arm hurts like hell. He whips around when he hears footsteps and sees Dick walking in with a tray of food. He looks at the bed confused, most likely expecting Tim to still be in it, and then moves his head in a million different directions.

"Tim!" Dick calls, setting the tray on the bed and picking up Tim's sling. "I have food. Where are you?"

Tim, who had been searching for his suit in a dark corner of the cave, starts to walk towards Dick. He straightens up, and tries to hide any discomfort he might be feeling in his arm. It wouldn't do to appear even more weak and pathetic in front of Dick than he already has.

Dick's face is one of relief when he sees Tim approaching him and says, "Oh, there you are Timmy. I'm glad you're up."

Tim decides to skip the pleasantries so he can get back to his apartment as soon as possible. "Where's my suit?"

Dick bites his lip and he looks at him with big round eyes, and Tim wonders how a grown man can make himself look like a five year old whose hand was caught in the cookie jar. "I'm hiding it from you," he says.

Tim's eyes narrow, and Tim, as if he cannot quite believe what he heard questions, "Hiding it from me?"

Dick nods enthusiastically and Tim just grows more confused.

"You can't leave if you have nothing but your boxers on," he says with a mischievous smile. Again, a man who was once _Batman_ should not be able to look and act so young and innocent. It just isn't right.

"You do realize I have clothes upstairs in my old bedroom and an extra suit at my place? You really didn't think this plan through, did you?"

Dick's face falls a bit. "Well, what if I won't let you get to your room."

"What are you going to do? Fight me?" Tim ask. "Look, I really need to get home; I have some work that I need to get done. How long have I been out?"

"You are not leaving," Dick replies authoritatively. "I need you to do a few things before you leave. And it's ten o'clock."

"In the morning?" Tim asks incredulously. He rarely ever sleeps past eight, although at times he let's himself sleep until nine (but that's very rare).

Dick puts a hand on Tim's face and rubs under Tim's eye. Tim knows that there dark from lack of sleep, but that isn't a new feature. He cannot remember the last time he slept for more then three hours.

Tim wants to lean into Dick's touch and let himself be comforted by his big brother, but Tim fights the urge and draws back from Dick's touch.

Dick looks at Tim with a sad expression, "You should put your sling back on," he says quietly. "You hurt your arm pretty bad."

"It's fine."

"I brought some pain killers for you. Does it hurt?"

"No," Tim lies easily.

Dick looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Why is it that I don't believe you?"

Tim shrugs, and feels a wave of pain as he does so. He schools his expression into a blank look, but from the look on Dick's face Tim knows that he caught the brief look of pain that had flashed across his face.

"Come on," Dick gently takes hold of Tim, forcing him to walk forwards toward the bed, and then sitting him down on top of it.

"I'm not an invalid," Tim crosses his arms, vaguely aware of the fact that he's behaving like a child. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Sometimes people need help," Dick says softly.

"Well, it isn't your responsibility. You don't have to worry about me. I don't want to be anybody's burden, least of all yours. You have enough…"

"_Burden_?" Dick cuts Timmy off. "Timmy, why would you say that? You aren't a burden. I want to take care of you."

"You don't have to lie, Dick. It's fine. Just let me get some clothes, so I can go back home, and you don't have to stay with me."

Dick lets out a sigh, and Tim sees that he's biting his lip, trying not to argue with him.

"Can you please just eat something?" Dick finally says after a minute.

Tim wants to protest, so he can go home and get back to work, but he hasn't eaten since four in the afternoon yesterday. It isn't that Tim starves himself, but when he's busy and stressed Tim tends to forget to eat. "Alright," Tim huffs his consent.

Dick gives Tim a small smile and hands him the tray he had brought down. "It's just some soup and crackers. I wasn't sure how you would be feeling so I told Alfred to make you something light."

"I only hurt my arm a bit, Dick. It's not a big deal."

Dick looks angry again, and Tim doesn't understand why he insists on keeping up this charade of his. Tim knows that Dick doesn't love him, that he prefers Damian to him. It's just cruel for Dick to play with Tim's heart like this, because Dick has to know how much Tim loves him. Dick is the person he has looked up to since he was a child, and nobody could ever compare to Dick in his mind. He's Tim's big brother, and Tim loves him so much, and it hurts to know that Dick doesn't feel the same way about him.

Tim isn't lovable; he's come to realize this. He isn't sure what's wrong with him, but he knows it isn't really possible for someone to love him. He learned that as a child, when his parents left him for months at a time by himself and later when Dick replaced him with Damian.

"Hello. Earth to Timmy." Tim is jerked back into reality and out of his own head when an arm is waving in front of his face.

Tim smiles sheepishly at Dick and mutters a quiet apology.

"Always living up there in your head, kid," Dick's voice is affectionate. It's a voice that Tim hasn't heard in _so_ long. It's the voice Dick used to use when they hung out together. Before everything went to hell and Tim had let himself believe that he was loved and belonged. "You're doing it again, Timmy," Dick says, stopping Tim before he becomes consumed by his thoughts once more. "Come on," he says in a quiet urging tone. "You have to eat."

Tim nods and starts to eat his soup in a slow robotic way, not really tasting the food, just eating it because he knows he has to. He hasn't enjoyed eating in a while. He hasn't enjoyed _anything_ in a while, actually.

"You should put the sling back on," Dick says, still speaking in that quiet voice. "It's gonna take a while to heal."

"It's fine," Tim grunts between bites of food.

"Maybe…" Dick begins slowly, hesitantly, "you should stay here for a bit."

"Why?" Tim asks, confused.

"I… I just want to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Timmy…"

"No Dick, really I'm fine. Everything is fine."

"Would you stop saying that you're fine? You aren't!" Dick yells, surprising Tim.

"Dick-"

"No! Timmy… why… why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Let yourself go on last night when you were hurt. Why didn't you tell me?"

Tim's throat suddenly feels very dry and he's unable to look Dick in they eyes. "I didn't… I didn't want you to think I was weak and couldn't handle myself."

"Oh Timmy," Dick sighs and Tim knows that a hug is coming and he isn't sure if he should cringe and run away, or lean in an just cry into Dick's shoulder and tell him how much he misses his big brother.

When the hug comes, he settles for not moving, and soaks up as much of Dick's affection as he can. He knows what's going to be coming after this. He just knows that Dick is going to tell him that clearly Tim isn't good enough to even be Red Robin anymore and that he can't handle himself. He's going to tell Tim how unworthy he is but in a nice way because it's _Dick_. Tim wonders what would hurt him more- Dick being Dick and beating around the bush, or Dick just telling him straight up.

"I know you can handle yourself," Dick is still holding onto him, and Tim freezes, waiting for the blow to come. "You are so, _so_ brave Tim. But you have to tell someone if you're hurt. What if, when you fell, I hadn't caught you?"

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway," Tim says, struggling to keep his voice steady. "You guys don't need me." He's still preparing himself for the blow.

Suddenly, Dick is squeezing him tightly, and Tim wonders if Dick is trying to smother him. "Don't ever say that. _Don't._"

"Batman needs a Robin I'm not Robin anymore. You have Damian now."

"We all need you Tim. You weren't just Robin. You're Tim, and we need you."

Tim scoffs. "For what?"

"Oh god. You don't even know, do you? Don't you realize how much we love you?"

Tim blinks, unsure of how to respond or react. Finally, he comes up with a calm, hopefully dethatched and witty response- something that will get Dick to stray from this awkward subject. "I assume you are not counting Damian and Jason in that statement."

Tim is aware that Dick is still hugging him, and he expertly maneuvers out of his arms, and very pointedly does not look up at him.

"They just have a funny way of showing affection," Dick says and Tim can hear the smile in his voice.

"By trying to kill me?" Tim questions. He's managed to get Dick off the subject for now.

Dick lets out a forced laugh and Tim decides to speak before he can say anything. "I really have to go Dick. I guess I'll just run upstairs and get some clothes and then I'll be on my way."

"How are you going to get to your apartment? Are you going to walk?"

"If I have to."

"You can't walk all the way to your apartment!"

"The walk isn't too bad."

"It's miles away! No, you are staying right here where I can take care of you."

"I told you I don't need…"

Dick just waves his arms and shushes Tim. "Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before. I don't care if you don't need me anymore. You're my baby brother and I want to take care of you. Now, lie down and let Nurse Dick handle everything."

Tim barks out a laugh. "Okay, two things. One _Nurse Dick_? That sounds like a really bad porno or something. And two, I'm not a baby."

"You'll always be to me."

"You didn't even know me when I was a baby!"

"That's inconsequential. Twelve is still babyish enough, and you were so cute and tiny."

Tim groans and falls down onto the bed.

"If you want I can go get some pictures and we can look at some of you when you were little. I think you'll find that you looked a lot like a little baby at twelve."

"I hate you."

Dick smiles brightly at Tim. "No, you don't you love me."

"Against my better judgment."

"Oh hush. Now, take this painkiller. You dislocated your shoulder last night. How were you even still using your grappler?"

"I managed for a bit. You saw me fall."

Dick frowns. "Yeah… that is never going to happen again. Next time you're hurt stop working and come to the cave, or to me."

"Coming to you would be stupid. You would be patrolling, so you couldn't do anything."

"I would stop. You're more important to me. Now, get that through your thick stubborn skull and take the freaking painkiller. No wait it'll make you drowsy. Finish your soup first. You're too skinny."

Tim knows that Dick is still talking, but he drowns him out, and let's his eyelids droop. He let's himself start to drift off. But, before he falls back to sleep, he hears Dick whisper, "I love you, Timmy. Don't scare me like that ever again." Tim falls asleep feeling more safe and loved then he has in ages.

**Please R&R. Thank you! **


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